List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, many localities in America mark the beginning of a year through the raising or lowering of an object. Many of these events are patterned off festivities that have been held at New York City's Times Square since 1908, where a large crystal ball is lowered down a pole atop One Times Square (beginning its descent at 11:59 p.m. local time, and concluding at midnight). In turn, the event was inspired by the time balls used by ship navigators in the 19th century to calibrate their chronometers.

Whilst some of these events use a ball in imitation of Times Square, many "drops" utilize objects that represent an aspect of local culture, geography, or history. Ball drops are by far the most common in, but not exclusive to, the United States.

Key West, Florida (Sloppy Joe's Bar): The Key West Conch Drop, where a six-foot Queen Conch Shell drops 20 feet to the top of the bar to usher in the New Year, is held annually for the island's official New Year celebrations.

Miami, Florida: Miami is home of "The Big Orange" Drop. (Florida is the orange state) A 35-foot piece of flat neon signage, dubbed “Mr. Neon” and designed in the shape of an orange with sunglasses,[8] rises 400 feet until it reaches the top of the Hotel Intercontinental Miami and is dropped from the top.[9][10]

Orlando, Florida: The Annual Church Street Entertainment New Year’s Eve Street Party includes "a huge video wall, confetti cannons, fireworks, and the tradition of the Orange Drop high above Church Street".[11][12]

Marietta, Georgia: In October 2015, the Marietta city council approved a cube designed by students at Kennesaw State University to drop on New Year's Eve for Marietta's first ever New Year's Eve ball drop, but additional details were kept silent. During the countdown, an aerialist from the Proia Dance Project dropped from the cube and performed until a few minutes after midnight. The event confused many people in attendance. [33]

Bangor, Maine: A beach ball covered in Christmas lights has been thrown off the top of a local restaurant since 2005.[48]

Eastport, Maine: A sardine is dropped in a nod to the area’s history in the herring fishing and canning industry. This is the second of two object drops in Eastport (see also "Atlantic Time Zone" above). Both objects were created by sculptor Bill Schaefer of East Machias.[1][49]

Kennebunk, Maine: A wild blueberry ball has dropped from the town's First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church on Main Street since 2015.[50]

Seaside Heights, New Jersey: Snooki from MTV's reality series Jersey Shore (which is set in Seaside Heights) was lowered inside a ball in 2011 for the network's New Year's Eve special. While the drop was originally to be held inside MTV's studios at Times Square alongside its more famous counterpart, city officials asked MTV not to do so.[74]

Buffalo, New York: A lighted ball is dropped, at one time along with a Ford Edgeautomobile.[76] The Buffalo Ball Drop (formerly the 97 Rock Ball Drop) is the second largest in the country, with 40,000 in attendance during a typical year.[77] The Buffalo Ball Drop is held annually from the Electric Tower in Roosevelt Plaza.[78] It was nearly canceled in 2010 (due mainly to the effects of the late 2000s recession) before a last-minute sponsorship drive brought in the necessary funds to successfully carry out the festivities. The event is broadcast on both 97 Rock (through the radio) and by WKBW-TV (on television).

New York City (Times Square): The most famous ball dropped is a 11,875 pounds (5,386 kg) Waterford Crystal ball. The Times Square Ball was previously metal and, during the 1980s, an illuminated apple.[81] The ball used to be lit by halogen lamps, but LED has been used since 2008. In 2009 the ball became a permanent fixture year-round atop One Times Square.[82] Over a million people gather each year to see the famous drop, which lasts for one minute. For the 1999-2000 ball drop, there were two million in attendance.

New York City (rotating locations, Greenwood Heights for 2011): A giant lighted ukulele, dropped by "Sonic Uke" (a local ukulele playing duo), has been dropped each year in a different location since 2004–05.[83]

Raleigh, North Carolina: A 900-pound copper-and-steel acorn, designed by sculptor David Benson to celebrate the city's 1992 Bicentennial and Raleigh’s nickname, “The City of Oaks”, is lowered by a crane.[100][101][102]

Wetumpka, Alabama: A meteorite is dropped at the Old Courthouse at 11pm Central Time in honor of the meteorite that hit the River City. At the stroke of midnight, a big fireworks display takes place over the river.[167]

Columbus, Mississippi: An illuminated 10-foot wide by 10-foot tall lit aluminum ball is hoisted over College Street 100 feet high as part of the "Having a Ball Downtown Block Party". Festivities are broadcast live on WCBI.[185] No longer airs!

Nashville, Tennessee: An 80-foot Guitar Drop took place at Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe during Music City's Bash On Broadway.[193][194] In 2011 the partnership ended with Hard Rock Cafe and the guitar was exchanged for a 15-foot-tall music note.[195]

Austin, Texas: Families in the Austin Woods neighborhood traditionally celebrate the new year with large illuminated new year's balls hung from trees, which are lowered at varying times during New Year's Eve. Downtown, a Lone Star was dropped until 2006, then replaced with a simple mirrored ball.[196]

McAllen, Texas: A giant mirrored ball descends just before midnight. The first orb for 2008 was six feet in diameter, but in 2009 McAllen's big bash was expanded to include a bigger crowd (10,000 attended), a bigger party space and the bigger "Texas-sized" ball used ever since.[199]

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin: A carp (real but dead) caught by local fishers and weighing between 25 and 30 pounds is lowered. A carp was chosen to represent the area's fishing industry and because the carp is considered one of the luckiest fish in Chinese culture. The carp, nicknamed “Lucky”, is lowered onto a throne. Each “Lucky” has a tree planted where it is buried with a commemorative plaque listing the carp's name and year.[105][203]

Tempe, Arizona: An illuminated sunburst was dropped while the Fiesta Bowl Block Party and Parade was sponsored by Sunkist,[207][208][209][210] but replaced by a Giant Tortilla Chip when Tostitos Tortilla Chips took over the sponsorship from Sunkist. The party is 10 blocks long and four blocks wide with two fireworks shows (10 p.m. and midnight).[211]

Show Low, Arizona: A deuce of clubs (2♣) debuted in 2011–12. The card, which is the namesake of the main road through Show Low, is, according to legend the origin of the town's name (the town's founders allegedly derived the name "show low" from a game of poker where the winner showed a 2♣, the lowest card in the deck).[212]

Twin Falls, Idaho: Since 2002, a metal ball, bought at auction for $14 by Dave Woodhead—owner of the former bar Woody's, has been dropped from a pair of grain elevators. The low-budget event attracted a cult following: later editions also switched from a manual pulley to using a 1961 Ford Econoline truck to lower the ball. Following the lease of the bar to new owners, the event was placed on hiatus for 2014, but returned for 2015 in partnership with the new owners. Woodhead acknowledged the drop's inclusion on lists of New Year's Eve drops on Mental Floss and Wikipedia as a sign of notoriety for the event.[218][219]